By Halit Suleiman
IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Eleven civilians were killed and another 13 injured Wednesday when regime aircraft struck targets in Syria’s northwestern city of Idlib, according to a pro-opposition civil defense official.
“A regime warplane dropped a vacuum bomb on a residential area of Idlib’s Al-Qusoor district,” Yahia Arja told Anadolu Agency.
Local civil defense teams rushed to the scene in an attempt to rescue three families stuck under the rubble of collapsed buildings while the injured were rushed to nearby field hospitals.
Wednesday’s attack coincides with the second day of peace talks now being held in Astana.
Shortly after a cease-fire came into effect in Syria late last year, a first round of talks was held in the Kazakh capital on Jan. 23 and 24. A second round of talks was held in mid-February.
A third round of talks kicked off on Tuesday.
The negotiations are being brokered by Turkey on one hand, which backs Syria’s armed opposition, and Russia and Iran on the other, both of which support the Assad regime.
Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.